Come to your Senses
by Temperance-is -a -virtue
Summary: Brennan is divorcing Booth after three weeks of marriage. But Booth ain't letting her go that easily!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Trust me, even if I did own them, these scenes would be on the cutting room floor.

"This was a big… huge…gigantic…gargantuan…colossal…enormous…mammoth…humungous…immense mistake!"

As Bones said each word, another piece of clothing fell roughly into her bag. Booth watched her from the chair she had pushed him into, mouth open. Everything was so good._ Yesterday_. Now on the day before they were supposed to return home to their lives, she was talking about a divorce. They had only been married three weeks! And he had liked those three weeks. They had become the best three weeks of his life.

"_WHY?_' he wanted to know.

"Isn't it obvious, Booth? You and I got caught up in the fantasy that can never be carried over into the real world. We are partners, nothing else. We cannot go on pretending that this will work anywhere outside this hotel."

"It worked on that submarine tour," he said stupidly. She shot him a look that almost melted his sneakers.

"You know what I mean. We can't be married, Booth. We barely tolerate each other normally. We have a difference in opinion when it comes to every little thing. And I don't want to be married."

_Oh, REALLY?_ "You could have told me that three weeks ago when I asked you, Bones."

"Nobody asked you to ask me. We made a wrong decision under the influence and we need to accept it for what it is."

_Accept it for what it is???_

He was angry now. What had gone wrong in the twenty minutes that she had stepped out of the room? He got up, turned her to him, kissed the daylight out of her and looked into her eyes, as much to see if any bit of the immense passion he had seen there when they had woken up this morning was left as to look if this was really Dr. Temperance Brennan, the woman he had married and then regretted marrying and then decided he didn't regret marrying and then had a serious talk with and then realized he couldn't live without anyway, so they might as well make it legal. He stared into he pretty eyes, the ones he knew were stars and not normal eyes, and looked to find his Bones.

Her eyebrows knitted together, and she shook out of his embrace.

"I'm going to my room. We can discuss this later at dinner."

She took up her bag and hightailed it out of the room, the Converse sneakers he had lent her to go to the lobby squeaking painfully as she turned the corner.

If the sneakers were crying out in pain, you could imagine how Booth felt.

* * *

Well, it obviously was simple logic.

They had made a mistake getting married, but it felt like the thing to do after a bottle of Appleton Jamaica Rum each and a make out session in a movie theatre. He had said 'I love you' so many times, she blurted, "Well, since you love me so much, why don't you just marry me?"

"Yeah, you're right. Why not?" he replied.

And they went and did it.

It was embarrassing to think that that night when he had showed up to dinner in a blue shirt open at the collar, and dress pants that fit him perfectly to ask her if she was willing to give their marriage a try, she actually said yes. She knew it wouldn't work! Of course it wouldn't work. She was terrible at relationships, how much of a difference would a marriage make? She ignored the tears that sprung to her eyes as she remembered pushing him away when he had came too close, invading her personal space like he always did, and her heart had started to hurt. She had to do it, she reminded herself. _Just rip it off like a band-aid. Rip it, Temperance! He'll go on, and so will you._

Yes, exactly. He will go on, and when he was back in D.C, he will have some time to think, clear his head. And he'll realize it was a mistake too.

She sighed as she opened the door and looked at the room she hadn't been in for the last three weeks.

She would miss the sex an awful lot though.

* * *

"Can I have my sneakers back?"

She looked at him in shock, "That's the first thing you have to say to me?"

He looked at her across the table. Dammit if she didn't look perfect. She had on that light cotton blue spaghetti-strap dress he liked, her hair was in her serious-analyzing-skeletal-remains ponytail tied with a piece of blue ribbon, and the bracelet he had bought her the day they went to the craft market. It had large blue stones on it, interspaced with smaller red ones. Good times. Only two days ago.

"I want them back. You keep wearing them."

"They're comfortable."

"Well, get your own, Bones. I'm taking custody of the sneakers."  
"Custody?"

"Yeah. This is a divorce negotiation, isn't it?"

He wondered if he imagined the pained look on her face. She didn't speak for a moment.

"Yes. It is."

"Well, you can't keep the communal sneakers. They're mine."

"Okay," she looked down at her Noni Rolls, the one she told him she wanted to carry home the chef to make for her. He had told her he could fill that void, because he would make her anything she wanted when they were back home. Too bad that was all over.

"Well, then since this is a divorce negotiation, I would like to ask you something I feel is important," she said her eyes still on the vegetable wrap.

_What like "Don't make me end our marriage by being Little Miss Non-Committal?"_ "What?"

"We shouldn't tell anyone about this mistake. I hope you feel the same."

He had thought she felt the same when he had asked her to help him make their marriage work, but now…

"About what?"

"About the fact that nobody needs to know about this. We keep it to ourselves until the divorce is final."

"Whatever," he took up his beer and swigged down the feeling of loss that suddenly came over him. He wanted to shout, _You're a complete wuss, Temperance Booth! You can't stick out this marriage because you got no BALLS! If you had any you would admit you want to stop this as much as I do, which is not at all! _But he didn't say it. Why? Because he had gotten into the habit of giving her every damn thing she wanted. He never ever denied her a thing, except a gun, and if she hadn't gone and gotten herself one (which she couldn't handle) he would have eventually caved. Crap. He really had to reprioritize after this.

"Booth, I've gotten a different plane ticket. I'll be going home a little earlier than you tomorrow. Okay?"

"I want my socks back too."

She looked at him, a little bit peeved that he ignored her, "What socks?"

"My blue and black pair. You have them."

"I do not!"

"Yes you do. They were on the bed and you scooped them up with your stuff."

"I'll return them tomorrow before I leave."

"Don't bother. I'll be asleep." He got up, sick to his stomach that he wanted to kiss her so bad at a time like this, and walked away. He could feel her staring at his back. But he didn't care.

_Don't look back. Don't look back. Don't look back! _

He looked back and saw her staring at him, mouth open.

"I bet you'll like paying me alimony. Make you feel powerful, huh?" he said, sounding like a jackass.

* * *

"You okay?'

It was the third time Angela had asked her that in the time she took to get from the airport to Brennan's apartment. Honestly it was annoying.

"I'm fine. Why do you keep asking?"

"Because you got teary eyed when I asked whose sneakers are these. That is not normal Temperance Brennan behaviour."

_Oh, shut up_, Brennan thought rudely. But she had to remember that Angela didn't know anything about her imminent divorce. In her world there were still white clouds and rainbows. She still thought the sky was blue and the grass was green.

She needed to step into Dr. Brennan World. Everything there was an eerie grey.

"I'm just a little off my bearing, that's all. I didn't have a good a time as I hoped to."

"So, no nooky with Booth then?"

Brennan breathed a sigh. Booth. He was even torturing her with his absence.

"No, Ange," she lied.

"Gosh I wish you two would see what I see. You're made for each other! I can't believe it. You went on vacation with a hot guy like Booth and nothing happened? That is what I call self restraint."

_What would you call marrying said hot guy and imitating rabbits for the next three weeks?_ Temperance wanted to know. She didn't ask out loud though. She just continued unpacking.

Memories of her soon-to-be ex-husband hit her from all sides. The damn communal Converse sneakers. The bracelet he bought her. Her last minute wedding dress. That one she threw into the garbage because she could _never_ wear it again. Angela took it out.

"Why are you throwing this away? It's so pretty."

"I don't need it anymore," was the first lie that sprung to her head to tell her. She looked at the bright red cotton dress. It still had the stain of rum that Booth had spilled on her.

"You can give it to me."

"Take it," she said, going to put her folded tops in the drawer. Angela was staring at her back.

"Bren, what's wrong?" she asked, "You can tell me."

Angela would not stop asking until she got an answer, Temperance knew. So she told her the half truth.

"I got involved with somebody. He and I decided to amicably end it, and I'm just feeling some residual grief at the moment. I'll get over it."

"Oh sweetie!" Angela dropped the dress and wrapped her arms around her best friend, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I didn't want to bother you."

"Bother me! Are you kidding? You're heartbroken, you need comfort. I'm your best friend. That's what I'm here for. Now stop unpacking, go lie down on the couch, I'll go take out the chocolate cake from the fridge, and you will tell me everything that happened, okay?"

She had her chin on Angela's shoulder, and a little of her best friend's sunshine and roses came seeping in. It felt good.

"Sure," she replied.

* * *

Talking to Angela did actually make her feel better. All through the weekend, she conducted life normally; eating, sleeping, working. She even went to the diner, though in the back of her mind, she was looking for a glimpse of brown hair and chocolate eyes.

Then Monday came.

As she opened her eyes, she immediately squeezed them shut. No! Not Monday! She didn't want to go back to work. She didn't want the opportunity to see him. She didn't want to see the face that had been in her dreams all weekend long. His dark loving eyes filled with disdain at the sight of her, as they would most likely be now that she had asked for a divorce. She sat up, willed herself out of the blankets, put her feet on the floor and immediately started searching for the Converse sneakers. His sneakers. Dammit, they were her sneakers now. He wasn't getting them back.

She went about her morning routine methodically, her brain on Auto Pilot. All the time she was thinking she didn't want to go. What if he came in with a case? What would she do then? Tell him to bring Zach with him to the field? Tell him that their partnership was over in all senses of the phrase? Kiss him brainless and say that she wished it were different, that she was different, but it would never work and he had to understand that? She didn't know. Hopefully he would have the sense to stay away for as long as possible.

She dressed a little fancier than she normally would have in a knee-length grey skirt, white blouse with short sleeves, a black vest that scooped low, her onyx necklace and black pumps that had silver tone heels. She looked like she was going to a book signing instead of work, but it felt important to dress up today, maybe to let her feel a bit better when all she wanted to do was mope.

She walked into the lab, receiving greetings of 'Welcome back' all around. She took them all gracefully.

Hodgins came up to her and placed her in a big bear hug.

"Hey, welcome back, Dr. Brennan. You look great. Do you need anything? I can get it for you. A cup of coffee or maybe some…"

Temperance looked past him at Angela, "You told him?"

Angela held her head down, "He can read me like a book Bren. He knew something was up before I could even say 'Hello'."

"I'm perfectly fine, Hodgins. I don't need anything, especially not your sympathy. All I need is to get back to work. Is that clear?"

"But Bren, you still need to vent. I can tell you wanna cry. But you didn't even drop one tear when we were talking. Honey it's all a part of the healing process." Angela's concern was written all over her face.

"Angela, I assure you, I'm fine. Where's Cam?"

Hodgins pointed, "Over there talking to Booth."

_Booth? He was here already?_ Her dreams of having a nice Booth-free day went down the drain. She sighed.

"Tell her I'm in my office." She walked in the opposite direction to where Hodgins was pointing.

"You're not fooling me, Seely."

"Fooling you that what?" he said with the biggest charm smile he could muster on his face.

"You are never even on a normal basis this jovial. That means you're sad, and are trying to hide it."

"What kind of screwed logic is that?" he asked her. Even if it were true.

The look on her face said, _Your face is an open book, jackass._

"Spill. Now." She folded her arms.

Well he couldn't tell her the truth could he? That he and Bones had spent their vacation in wedded bliss and that was now prematurely ended. That he now had a void in his chest as big as the Grand Canyon because he wanted to go into his wife's office and shake some sense into her, then tell the whole damn world that _he_ Agent Seeley Booth had married Dr. Temperance Brennan and he had the documents to prove it. Now he had to keep all that secret.

"I didn't have as good a vacation as I thought I would," he half lied, "It was a little stressful."

"What did you do?"

"Basically, I got myself in a lot of trouble-not with the law," he added when he saw the look on her face, "With…"

"A woman," she finished.

He couldn't deny that, "Yes," he sighed.

She shook her head, "Of course. You okay?"

Yes," he lied again. He didn't want Cam and her form of help, which usually involved telling him in various ways to suck it up. Usually it worked, but this time he didn't want to suck it up. He wanted his wife back.

"Well I'm here if you wanna talk."

"Sure." He walked away, "You know if Bones is here yet?"

"Maybe. Why?"

"Gotta talk to her." He went in the direction of his wife's office.

* * *

Had she felt him there? She didn't know if that was what it was, but as he came in she raised her head from the computer screen. He stopped and looked at her. And he _smiled._

_What?_

"Bones," he said, "how are you?"

"Um, Booth? I have not changed my mind. You and I are getting a divorce." It was necessary to make sure he didn't think there was any chance of her changing her mind. Even though right now the sight of him in his suit was doing funny things to her belly.

He sighed and his face fell, "You know you're cruel."

"Cruel?" she asked as he locked the door to make sure nobody overheard this particular conversation.

"Yes. You're acting like the last three weeks didn't mean anything to you too. You love me Bones, and you want to stay married. You're just making your little insecurities guide your decisions."

"Are you sure it isn't you who has this wrong Booth? It couldn't possibly be your sense of obligation brought on by your religious conviction that makes you want to stay married to me? Huh? You want to stay married because it was drilled into your head that you must stay in a marriage for as long as possible, even till death? Well, Booth, I don't have the rest of my life to regret this particular mistake."

"You keep calling it a mistake."

"That is what it is."

"Bones, why don't you want to stay married? Tell me. We can try to work it out together, anything…"

"NO BOOTH!"

"WHY?"  
"Because it was ridiculous!" she got up, "We were thinking irrationally. We deceived ourselves into believing that we could carry over a silly fantasy into real life. But we cannot. We are in no way compatible. We have different value systems. We work together as well. I've seen studies where married couples who work together often have more problems in their marriage than those who don't."

"You and I have never been in a study Bones," said Booth, "And speaking of being partners, that doesn't change, does it?"

It hadn't even occurred to her, "No. Why, do you want to stop being my partner?"

"I don't want to stop being your partner. I don't want to stop being your husband either."

"But you have to." Her voice quieted as he came closer. He was going to touch her. Hopefully, he'd touch her. _Please, please, please…_

"I still don't get why all of a sudden you think that you and I are polar opposites."

"We are Booth," she licked her lips in anticipation. He was in her face, like he usually was. She felt her feet move her body instinctively towards his. Actually she didn't realize it until her hands touched chest and she realized what she was doing.

"But we complement each other, Bones. We complete each other. You said that."

"I also said as _partners_," her hands were going up his chest and his hands were at her waist. He pulled her sharply forward.

"As my son would say, Bones, liar liar, pants on fire. "

"What the hell does that…" she shut up as his lips touched hers.

* * *

This changes nothing." Brennan said as she readjusted her skirt. Booth was wiping lipstick off his mouth.

"Bones…"

''I'm sure that soon you'll see it the way I do. You're not looking at it logically yet, but you will."

He leaned over and whispered in her ear, "We just had sex in your office."

A shiver ran down her spine, "I know that. I was there. What I'm trying to tell you is that we cannot make our impromptu marriage work now that we're back in D.C. We need to get a divorce. That is why I've taken the initiative of contacting my lawyer."

"And that is also why I've called Sweets," he smiled at her, making her heart race, "He is going to counsel us through our divorce."

"You told Sweets!" she exclaimed, hitting him on the shoulder, "I asked you not to tell anyone! "

"He wants to meet with us tomorrow," he said as he snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her to him. She couldn't believe that her tummy fluttered each time he did that over the last three weeks.

"Why would you want to go to counseling after only three weeks of marriage?" she asked him as his mouth travelled along her neck and his hand along her thigh.

"Because you and I have very different opinions as to how this marriage should go. You want to stop something that could be so good. Can't you see how good we could be together, Bones?"

"We have sexual compatibility, that is obvious, but to say we would be compatible in a marriage would be far fetched…Booth, stop."

He ignored her request, continuing his exploration of her thigh.

"You're not keeping my sneakers."

"But I like them."

"Correction, honey, you love them."

"Why can't I keep them?"

"They can't even fit you properly. On you they look like clown shoes."

"Cute clown shoes," she breathed. His hand was still conducting an expedition of under her skirt.

He chuckled, "You just can't admit to yourself that you don't wanna leave me."

"What does that have to do with your sneakers?'

"Everything, Bones. Every single thing."

 Darn it. That didn't come out as planned. But whatever.

Ha ha! Bet nobody has ever done a divorce story about Bones before! I'm the first most likely.

And yes, people, the sneakers are symbolic. They symbolize how Brennan really feels and her emotional attachment to Booth. She wants to be with Booth, but because of the fact that she thinks everyone she loves will eventually leave, she tries to push him away before he does. I'll try to make it a little happier next time. Review now please.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own it! Thank goodness! Jeez, how much pressure would that be?

Dr. Lance Sweets looked from one of his patients to the other. And he said the words that often came to him when he was in a therapy session with them.

"You two are weird."

"Why do you say that?" asked Dr. Brennan.

"You go on vacation and get married, decide it was a mistake, decide it was not a mistake and then decide it was a mistake?"

"Actually the last one was all her. I don't think it was a mistake anymore. She does," Agent Booth said matter-of-factly. He was the one who had called Lance to schedule this meeting. Lance had thought it was a stupid prank when the phrase, 'We got married and now she wants to get divorced' came out of his mouth. So much so that he had started laughing. He wasn't laughing so much now.

"Why do you want to get a divorce after only three weeks, Dr. Brennan?" he asked her.

Her eyes turned to blue flames. "Why are you asking me as if I'm the one who's wrong? He and I cannot stay married. It would never work. Ask _him_ why he wants to stay in this doomed-to-failure union and why he refuses to come to his senses."

"Oh, please Bones you don't want to get divorced," said Agent Booth.

"What brings you to the conclusion that she doesn't want to get divorced, Agent Booth?" he asked him. Booth looked over at his wife (Lance chuckled inwardly) and gave her a knowing stare.

"For starters? The fact that she refuses to give me back my stuff. Yesterday in her office. Last night."

"You came over!" Dr. Brennan said angrily.

"Wow, that's how you greet your visitors now? Hey, Sweets, when you can, swing over by Bones' house. You can get some mind-blowing sex."

Lance's eyebrows shot up. Dr. Brennan looked over at Agent Booth.

"Mind-blowing?"

"Like a shot to the head," he said in reply.

"I think that was a compliment."

"It was."

"Thank you."

Lance finally got back his voice, "You believe that because she seems to still be emotionally attached to you, she doesn't want to get a divorce."

"Right," he said.

"So why would she file for divorce if she doesn't want one?"

Dr. Brennan nodded in agreement, "Thank you. Answer that, Booth."

"Oh, you want me to answer that, huh?" Agent Booth sat up in his chair, ready to give a speech, "Simply, it's almost the same reason why she hates psychology."

"You're saying I think marriage is a weak science?" she asked.

"No, Bones. Hear me out. Her parents left her and so did her brother. We know how much that would hurt anybody, even someone with as tough a skin as my Bones here. Because of that, she doesn't trust as easily. Her relationships reflect that. She always has boyfriends with some screwed logic, or who don't want a permanent relationship with her, always no strings attached. She wants to leave me before I leave her."

Whoa. Lance didn't expect that from Agent Booth.

"That is untrue. I want to leave because I realize this arrangement has no chance of working, Booth. We will not be content living together and all that a marriage would entail."

"What in your opinion would a marriage entail, Dr. Brennan?" Lance asked her. Why did he suddenly feel like siding with Agent Booth?

"Well..." her voice trailed off.

"Or a better question would be," Lance made it easier for her, "What do you believe a marriage between you and Agent Booth would be lacking?"

"Oh it would be lacking a lot of things," she counted them off with her fingers; "We would have no stable home because there is no way I am moving. We would argue a lot, because of our many differences in opinion. I don't have any time to wash, cook, clean, any of those things that Booth's wife should do for him. I am able to make decisions for myself and I don't believe anyone should make them for me, nor do I want to consult anyone when I'm making a decision. I…"

"Hang on a bit!" Booth cut her off, "I would never make you do my laundry, Bones. I don't want a maid. I want you."

_Cute_, Lance thought, "I'm glad you brought up that point, Agent Booth, because Dr. Brennan said something very interesting there as well. You said those are the things Booth's wife should do for him. Are you saying that someone who is married to Agent Booth would most likely be domestic? Or," Lance could bet his Transformers memorabilia collection that this was the right answer, "Are you saying that Agent Booth deserves better?"

She looked at him, wide eyed for a second, and Lance could see the second that the revelation hit her. But then her eyes turned to fire again.

"N-no! I- I don't think that- well of course Booth deserves to marry someone who can care for him, but- to say that- I don't think…" she stuttered.

"Gosh, you're so in love with me," said Agent Booth. Lance concurred. Dr. Brennan's eyes narrowed, even as she struggled to keep her composure.

"I think he deserves someone who can be there for him, yes, but better than me? The term better can be used to mean that she could be physically better, or have a vaster mental capacity, or any number of things. You would have to specify…"

"I meant that you don't think you would be a good enough wife for him, and that is the reason you want a divorce," Lance couldn't believe he was pushing them together. What would Director Cullen have to say about this?

Dr. Brennan looked as if she was going to breathe fire out of her ears.

"WHO'S SIDE ARE YOU ON ANYWAY?!" she screamed.

* * *

"I think I now hate Sweets," said Brennan as she got to the SUV which he insisted they go to the session in. It had meant no escape. She slammed the door, taking out her frustration on it. Her husband looked at her. 

"I think he's growing on me."

She glared at him. Gosh, but he was cute. She guessed if she had her choice of people she would marry by mistake, Booth would be on the list. But she couldn't stay married to him. It was… wrong. She didn't know how, but there was something odd about this marriage and she was not going to rest until Booth saw it too.

It would help if he wasn't so damn alluring...

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked her.

"Like what?"

"Like I'm a map of Europe and you're Napoleon."

It would equate somewhat to how she felt. He and his ideas did have to be conquered. She put up a finger and wagged it at him.

"You're not thinking rationally."

"Actually, Mrs Booth, I think I'm the one who is actually thinking rationally."

"No, you're not. And even if we were married, I would never take your name."

"You wouldn't. But that doesn't stop me from calling you that, does it?" Booth leaned over and kissed her cheek.

_How can he annoy me and arouse me at the same time?_ she asked herself. Booth's lips were trailing down to her neck.

"Bones, we both know that the only reason you don't want us to stay married is because you don't wanna be hurt. You know from experience that I wouldn't dream of hurting you. And all those things you said about us having to change? We don't have to do anything you don't want to. This is our marriage, not anybody else's. Okay, Bones?" all through his little speech, his hot mouth was trailing down her neck.

She shoved him so she could look in his eyes, "We are not having sex in this parking lot, Seeley."

"I didn't say we were. Can't a man kiss his wife without it leading to something? Oh, I'm sorry. I guess that doesn't apply when I'm married to Mrs Biological Urges."

"Soon-to-be divorced from," she corrected him.

"Yeah, yeah," he started to kiss her ear.

"Yes," she corrected him and confirmed the statement at the same time, "Look, there's Caroline Julian."

"She's not there," said Booth.

"How do you know?"

"You're just trying to make me stop kissing you."

A knock on his window had him spinning away from her in shock. Caroline's eyebrow had disappeared into her hairline.

"You two are busy, I see," she said, her smile one of amusement, "I'll just ask about your vacation later."

"Wait!" said Brennan as Caroline walked off laughing, "You can't tell anybody you saw us kissing!"

"I thought only the marriage was secret," Booth said.

"Never mind that. Follow her to her car."

They drove until they saw Caroline opening her car door, still chuckling. They got out and came up to her.

"Caroline."

She looked up, "Oh, if it isn't the dynamic duo. You two had a nice vacation, then?"

"Yes. Lovely. You can't tell anyone you saw us kissing," said Brennan.

"Wouldn't dream of it. I'm just glad nobody has to push you two under mistletoes anymore. And anyway," she smiled wider, "I already know about your big secret."

Booth's jaw fell, "Sweets told you we got married? I'm gonna kill that..."

Brennan slapped her forehead in disbelief, "Ugh! No Booth, but she knows now!"

Realising his mistake, Booth's anger sobered, "Um, sorry Bones."

Caroline's was a happy shock, "You two got married? How long? Can I see the ring?"

"We're getting divorced, Caroline," said Brennan.

"And why the hell would ya do a stupid thing like that?! I was just about to offer to buy you two a wedding gift!" her hands went to her hips, "Who's filing for it?"

"She is," said Booth, sounding like a child who was glad he wasn't in trouble, "I don't even wanna get divorced."

"Girl, you're gonna let a fine man like Seeley Booth go? Are you _crazy_? What did he ever do to you that's so bad?"

"That's what I wanna know," said Booth, egging Caroline on.

"How long have you two been married?" she asked.

"Almost a month," said Brennan, in disbelief that Caroline's words were making her feel like a guilty child.

"And you want a divorce? Take my advice, honey, you and Mr. FBI here shouldn't complicate your relationship with a divorce."

"We shouldn't have complicated our relationship with a _marriage_," Brennan tried to clarify.

"Oh no. You think you're just gonna forget those kisses I saw him giving you in that SUV after you sign those papers? Uh uh. My advice; wait a year. If you feel different after that, then get the divorce. Or better yet wait ten. Excuse me." Caroline got into her car.

"Wait. Caroline, please don't tell anyone about us being married," Brennan pleaded.

"Alright. But you know, when this becomes public knowledge, I'm already on Booth's side."

As she drove off, Booth smiled, "Score."

"Shut up," Brennan walked back to the SUV.

* * *

Zach's eyes were glued to a piece of marrow that was currently floating in solution in a test tube. The piece of marrow held his attention so completely that he jumped when Angela started talking.

"Can you imagine?"

"Imagine what?" Cam asked. She and Angela were sitting on the opposite side of the room.

"Bren and Booth. They went on vacation together and Booth actually let some other guy come in and sweep Bren off her feet, only to get dumped?"

"Hm. She got dumped? But Booth was busy. From what I hear, he was busy with some girl."

"Really? I guess that explains it."

Zach wasn't interested in the conversation. Speculations about his former boss and the agent had been circulating ever since a little after Booth arrived. He didn't think it was right to talk about them that way, especially since there was no concrete evidence to suggest that they were or would ever be involved. He went back to staring at the test tube.

"But how could he do that? Totally ignore Brennan and not care that she got her heart broken?"

"He was too busy getting his heart broken. That woman he was with may have caused some permanent damage, I think. You should have seen him yesterday. He looked like the world was crumbling around him."

"Poor Booth. And poor Bren. What's the odds, huh? Both of them getting their hearts broken on the same vacation?"

Zach's ears, though they were not the type that entertained gossip (too much speculation and not enough empirical evidence) perked up. What _was_ the probability that both Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth both had their hearts broken on the same vacation?

Lower than the probability that they broke each other's hearts on the same vacation, that was for sure.

Was it possible? He didn't have enough evidence to prove or disprove it. Yet it was something to consider.

By somebody else.

He had more important experiments to conduct.

* * *

"Hey, honey, we have a case." 

Temperance looked up as Booth walked into her office two days later.

"Don't call me honey. And don't do that!" she exclaimed as he bent over to kiss her.

"Body in the bottom of a ravine, some kids found it. It's being shipped to the Jeffersonian as we speak."

Her face fell and her lips pouted, "What? They've already processed the crime scene?"

"It was a week ago, Bones. I don't think they could have waited for us to be back from vacation."

"They could have called me! They could have sent for me! I would have come! I..."

A kiss from her husband shut her up, "Anybody ever tell you you're a workaholic?"

"Yes. And I like it that way. Stop kissing me, Booth! We aren't supposed to be doing that. I'm divorcing you."

"Let's go out tonight."

"No."

"Just to the diner, if you want."

She glared at him. He had on a big smile that she felt to her toes. What was his game? Did he think that by being charming and cute she would forget that she was filing for divorce? Fat chance.

"Is this some sort of plot, Booth?"

"A plot to feed you, yes."

Her eyes narrowed, "Booth, if you try anything..."

"Like what? Now, seriously Bones, what could I possibly do?"

She couldn't think of anything at the moment," Okay I will go with you. But only if you promise to conduct yourself like my partner and not my..."

"Husband?" he finished for her.

"Yes."

"But, Bones, I am your husband."

"Soon-to-be ex-husband."

"Yeah?" he reached over and kissed her again, "Not if I warm you up to the idea of prolonging our marriage a while, say about the next...fifty years."

"I refuse to spend the next fifty years with you Booth," she argued needlessly. He was still in kissing distance, and her lips brushed his as she spoke.

"How 'bout forty?"

"No."

"Thirty?"

"I'm not negotiating with you, Booth."

"Twenty?" he kissed her again.

"Stop it."

"Ten and that is my final offer."

"Too bad, because this marriage won't last another month."

"Too bad, because _you're_ really gonna miss me." He sat down in the chair in front of her desk, just in time because Angela chose the moment to speed in.

"Double date tonight. You, me Hodgins and Brad Jenkins, that cute lawyer that worked with us on the Davis case. Please, please, please Bren! He says he wants to get to know you better. And he's taking us all to that new restaurant the opened up named The Red Knight. Say yes, please say yes!"

Her eyes shifted to Booth's and back to Angela.

"Um, I'm going to the diner with Booth tonight," she said.

"Oh, come on, you guys do that all the time! You won't mind will you Booth?"

"Well..." he started.

"He doesn't," Angela cut him off, "You'll come. You gotta get over this guy, Bren. It's not healthy for you to be moping around like this."

"I do not mope!" she protested.

"Hey, what guy?" Booth asked Angela. Distress signals went off in Temperance's head.

"The guy she met on vacation. You mean to tell me you didn't meet him?" Angela asked.

"OH! _That_ guy!" Booth sent Temperance a private grin.

"She's been sulking all week and I know that it's over him. So I wanna cheer her up by letting her meet somebody new, you know. You don't mind, do you?"

Booth was still looking at Temperance, "Well, if it's to cheer her up, I can't see why not. I just hope she doesn't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Don't worry, she won't-I won't," she answered.

Next chapter will get rid of the guy, I promise.

I just love the Caroline part! I had it for a later chapter, but after I reread this on, I was like "It's lacking something..." so I put in the Caroline part.

Review, please. Thanks.


	3. Chapter 3

1Zach was hardly looking where he was going much less listening to the conversations flowing around the lab. He had one more lab test to do and then he would go home for the day. Thinking only of the physics calculations that could be used to explain the victim's death, he stopped only when a floating conversation helped him to put the puzzle at the back of his mind together.

"It was great while it lasted, Booth, but our marriage is over. You need to accept that."

"No, Bones. You need to accept that you're feeling the same way I am and you're making a mistake if you file for divorce."

Zach's ears perked up, and he started to eavesdrop, not something he did very often. He could tell who the voices belonged to too. Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth. But they were talking about getting a divorce. Their vacation was obviously more interesting than they let on. Zach's curiosity was uncharacteristically piqued.

"You're the one being irrational. I am not in love with you, whatever the heck that means. We got caught up and took the feelings we were experiencing because of chemical reactions too seriously and we went too far. So we need to correct that."

"Correct?"

"Isn't that what you do with errors?"

Zach heard the hurt in Booth's voice, "Okay, don't...don't talk like that. Our marriage was not an error. It's not one of those variables that you cannot account for in your experiments. It's our marriage. I love you Bones."

"No you do not," Zach could tell that Dr. Brennan, although trying to sound stern was struggling to remain so.

"I do. And you love me too."

"I...I do not. You're signing those papers even if I have to hold you at gunpoint!"

"That is what you're gonna have to do, sweetheart, because I am not divorcing you, especially since you react that way when I do this."

The shout of surprise was not one of protest as far as Zach could hear, and when he tipped up to look over the barrier that separated him from the partners to see, he saw that Dr. Brennan was basically melting against Booth. He had pulled her up against him and was kissing her passionately.

"Interesting," he said. A little too loudly.

They pulled apart, looked at him with wide eyes and shouted, "Zach!" in unison.

"Hello," he said.

"Oh, Jeez. Zach you can not, tell anyone about this!" said Booth.

"About the fact that the two of you are married?" Zach computed.

"Yes. We want to keep the marriage secret, at least until we get a divorce," said Dr. Brennan.

"Why? Isn't a marriage in all cultures considered a cause for celebration?"

"Well, yeah, Zach. In fact I feel very blessed to have married such a beautiful..." Booth started. But then Dr. Brennan put a finger on his mouth.

"Save it, Booth. We are getting divorced. It was wrong to get married in the first place. I'm sure you understand, Zach."

"Well I don't actually."

For the first time in their strained relationship, Booth gave Zach a broad smile. Zach was so surprised he didn't even know if he was supposed to return it.

"Dammit, not even the robot understands why you wanna leave me! Thank you very much Zach! But until we can sort the whole mess out, just respect her wishes please."

"I will," Zach couldn't help drawing a comparison between Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan's marriage and the marriage of his brother and his wife. It was the same way the they only seemed to perfectly paired with each other. It was something that Zach could even explain with biology.

"Thank you Zach. And I assure you, we _will _be getting divorced." Dr. Brennan walked toward her office.

"Zach, I'm in love with her," said Booth as Dr. Brennan disappeared.

"I see," was all Zach could say.

" If only she wasn't so damn lovable, losing her would be a lot easier."

"I don't understand. Will you still be partners?" Zach asked.

"Yeah, but that's not enough now." booth put his hands in his pockets and walked in the opposite direction.

..........................................................................

"I've got them, Dr. Brennan."

"Thank you. Will I be able to get them by tonight?"

"Uhh... if you come for them yourself. My firm is a bit swamped now. We've got a big case. Millionaire versus Trophy Wife."

"Alright. I'll pick them up before my date."

"Date? Already? Dr. Brennan, you're still married you know!"

"I was invited by a friend, Edgar. And my husband knows I'm going. He has no problem."

Edgar made a disbelieving sound, "Yeah right. Even if he didn't love you, he will have a problem. Unless he's a cyborg."

"Well, he didn't..."

"Of course he didn't! If I know this guy- and the way you talk about him I feel I do- he has a ginormous problem with you going out with you going out with some other guy when you're still married to him."

"Oh... well, thank you Edgar. For getting the divorce papers so fast."

"Yeah. You know it's cuz you're so pretty." He hung up.

Brennan put down the phone, took up her things and headed out to get ready for her date.

.............................................................................

"Hey Bren!"

"Good night, Dr. Brennan."

Hodgins and Angela's enthusiastic greetings was met with Brennan's not so enthusiastic one. She only waved and climbed into the car's back seat. When she looked over she saw Brad Jenkins smiling at her.

"Dr. Brennan. You look beautiful tonight."

"Thank you," she looked over his curly hair, boyish looks and white teeth. She had realized his attractiveness when they had worked on the case together, but for some reason he seemed less appealing to her now. Slumping in her seat subconsciously, Brennan prepared herself for a nice date, filled with nice conversation and company.

Too bad she wasn't in the mood for all that. She wanted to get out of the heels she was wearing and go back upstairs to her Converse sneakers.

They passed the diner on the way to the restaurant and Brennan found herself craning her neck to look inside. No sign of her husband. But they had driven by quickly, she may have just missed him.

Why was she looking for Booth? She was on a date! With a very handsome lawyer. Who was currently asking her something.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that," she told him.

"I said you look a bit distracted.." Brad repeated, "Do you mind telling me what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing is wrong. I'm just... looking in that diner my partner. Booth. You remember Booth."

"How can I forget? He's part of the reason I didn't get to ask you out while we were on the case together. He was always there, following you around. I couldn't get you alone for a good second."

"Oh," Brennan wondered if he was telling her this to let her feel sorry for him, and in effect a little more attracted. Too bad for him it wasn't working.

They reached the restaurant and Angela pulled Brennan back a little out of the guy's earshot, "Temperance Brennan you are to stop thinking about that mystery guy right now and enjoy this scrumptious piece of Angel Food Cake in lawyer form. You understand me, miss?"

"How do you know I'm thinking about anybody?" Brennan asked her.

"For some reason you don't get that as your best fried I know you better than yourself. Bren that guy is probably back home forgetting about you. You have to forget about him and get back out there."

Knowing better than Angela that the 'guy' was not liable to forget her any time soon since they were partners, Brennan decided to just nod in agreement, "Okay. I'll enjoy myself with Brad."

"Atta girl," Angel patted her best friend's shoulder and they caught up to Brad and Jack.

But as the night went on, it became more and more obvious that she couldn't have a good time. At first it was kind of fun. She talked shop a while, about their mutual case, then he talked about his family and for a while she was so interested, she wasn't paying attention to what she ate. But then she looked down at the special restaurant- made apple tart and Booth came swimming back into her mind. After that she locked off, no longer participating in the conversation. Not that Brad wasn't trying to get her attention. He tried to tell her a joke- several times- but because she wasn't listening, she didn't get the punch line. Angela sent concerned looks her way.

Wen they dropped her off at home, she pretended not to see Brad coming out of the car to follow her and basically ran up the stairs to her apartment.

Now she sat on her couch, still in her going out clothes, her shoes kicked across the room. Her bag was on the coffee table in front of her. She sighed.

What was this empty feeling in the pit of her stomach? She had no name for it. But it made her pout and sigh.

She wondered if Booth was asleep yet.

Not able to take it anymore, she grabbed her car keys and walked out the door.

....................................................................

Booth opened his door and stared at his wife for a moment. What was she doing here? Didn't she have a date tonight? A date with a guy he had hated enough before, much less now that he was trying to get with Booth's _wife_ not just his partner.

"Goodnight, Booth," she said. He noticed her hands were wringing. She was nervous.

"Goodnight. What brings you here?"

"I came to tell you...I picked up the papers from my lawyer earlier this afternoon before my date. They're in the car."

He was about to ask why she hadn't just brought them up, but he shut his mouth. All the better for him, really. He wasn't going to sign them.

"Oh. Do you wanna come in?"

"Sure," she passed by him and Booth drank in the purple dress she had on. It was cut very low at the back and hugged her hips like a second skin. He took her hand.

"What happened to Brad?" he asked, steering her away from the living room, where he had left something he wasn't sure he wanted her to see yet. He led her to the dining room instead, pulled out a chair for her and went to the kitchen.

"What do you mean? Nothing happened to Brad."

"I mean how was your date? Or is it too weird to discuss with your husband details of how you cheated on him?"

She glared at his back, "I didn't cheat on you. I wouldn't..."

She cut herself off, accepting the beer he stretched over to her, "Nothing like that happened. He talked about his mother, who seemed to have been a very rude little girl growing up, he persuaded me to try a dessert that turned out to be very good, I turned down his request for a dance. And then Ange and Hodgins dropped us home. Separately. So, as you can tell, I did not cheat on you in any way shape or form."

He realized he was smirking, "Uh...okay."

"It didn't even cross my mind, Booth. Why would it? I mean, of course Brad is really nice, but it would hurt me even more than it hurt you if I were to ever...Booth," she redirected her speech, "Do you really feel resentful because I went out tonight?"

_A bit_, said his brain, "Huh?" said his mouth.

"My lawyer said to me today that even though we are about to get divorced you would have a problem with me going on the date. But you seemed so nonchalant about it when Angela proposed the date, I went. If you had told me you didn't want me to go, I wouldn't have...Booth?"

He was staring at her.

"What? Booth, what is it?"

"God I love you, Bones."

Her brows came together, "Why?"

"What do you mean why? Bones, you're on a date with another guy and you were thinking of me the whole time. I'm here up to my neck in worry. I mean you already wanna divorce me and then you're out with Pretty Boy Lawyer. But now you're telling me that all night you're worried about _me_? I'm so touched I just had to say it. I love you."

"Alright," she tried to shrug it off, but her heart was beating violently in her chest. He got out of his chair, leaned over and kissed her. Then he took her hand.

"Come here. There's something I want you to have."

They went into the living room and he sat her down on the couch. On the coffee there was a small box. A small _ring_ box.

"No...Booth, you can't..."

"I already did. Come on, look at it."

She took up the box and opened it. Inside was a silver band, with a small but beautiful heart-shaped diamond on it.

Brennan made a choking sound.

"Booth. you do realize we're getting divorced. You can't buy me a ring! Even if it is lovely..."

"Try it on."

"No!"

"Why not?"

She poked him in the chest, "You know why. Because this part of the ritual is usually at the beginning, not at the end."

He smiled, "Our ritual started in the last aisle of a movie theater, Bones. We sorta got it jumbled already. Just try the damn ring on."

She sighed, defeated. Taking the ring from the box, she slid it onto her finger.

"It fits," Booth smiled.

But Brennan was shaking her head, "I...I shouldn't take it."

"Well, I didn't say you have to, but since you want to, it's all yours honey," he leaned over again, kissing her and lingering a little longer than last time. By the time he pulled back, Brennan felt like her limbs had no use. She was glad she was seated.

Pooling the little bit of willpower she had left, resisting the urge to fall into his arms, which would inevitably lead to her staying the night...again...she got up off the couch.

"I'll give you the papers tomorrow. Bye."

She made to move past him, but he held her hand.

"Hey Bones. You wanna stay over?"

Just what she wanted to avoid, "I shouldn't."

"Well I was just asking. I wasn't really saying you had to, but since you do, you're welcome to."

"Your logic is flawed. You know that, right?" she pointed out as Booth got up and led her towards his bedroom.

Booth smiled, "That's why I like having a smart wife like you."

.......

"That 'I shouldn't" thing? My friend does it to me all the time. I say 'I shouldn't," and he said that obviously I want to, since I didn't say I wasn't going to. Next time I'll give him a Brennan stare-down and say, "Your logic is flawed."


	4. Chapter 4

Hi, y'all. Yeah, I haven't updated in a while, and yes, I should be drawn and quatered for that. But you know, I think before you commit cyber murder, you may want to read the chapter below.

**Warning:** The angst! She comes! (In small, easy-to-swallow dosages)

**Disclaimer:** Hart does it better.

* * *

At the diner the next morning Brennan pulled out the divorce papers and put them on the desk. Booth looked at them and shook his head.

"No."

"We had an agreement."

"No, Bones, you had an agreement. I'm the one who is trying to prevent this from happening."

Brennan's eyes narrowed. Why was he being so stubborn about this? It was very clear to her why they needed this divorce. Being sexually compatible wasn't the only thing a marriage needed to survive, even he admitted that. So why was he now refusing to sign the papers?

"You're being silly," she told him, "I refuse to be some sort of appendage to you, so you had better sign." She opened a fountain pen and put it on the table next to the papers on the table between them. He looked down at them and something caught his attention immediately.

"You haven't signed it yet."

She was confused. Why was that relevant? "That is because I'm waiting for you to sign it."

He seemed to digest her answer. Then slowly he began to smile.

Her brows came together, "What?"

He pointed the pen at her, "You're afraid to sign it."

"I am not! I'm giving it to you to sign it first."

"Since you're not afraid to sign it, do it." he challenged.

"No. You do it."

"You."

"You."

"You."

"No, you."

He smiled, "Dammit Bones, why don't you just admit it. You wanna stay married."

"She folded her arms, "Why would I want to do that and say the complete opposite? That sounds absurd."

"Yeah it does. At the same time, you're wearing your wedding ring."

Booth smiled at the look of realization and horror that came over his wife's face. She yanked the ring off her finger.

"W-why did you buy it in the first place?" she tried to argue, pushing the ring into her pocket "It must cost a bit of money. Even if I were to stay married to you, Booth I will not expect you to buy me every little thing, and I do not need a wedding ring to symbolize that I'm somehow your property."

"There is no way you're my property, Bones. You know that and I know that. Is it so hard to believe that I love you and wanna be with you and I don't care if we don't live together or do things that other married people do? All I want is to be with you."

A frown line creased her face, "I don't understand."

He feigned impatience, "Can't you stop being an anthropologist for like two seconds? There is no logic to love. Two things can't occupy the same space, remember that? Now I'm telling you that I'll give up everything I ever wanted just to be with you."

"Don't do that," she said, "That is unnecessary."

"Then what is gonna take to make you stay with me?" he asked her.

"Nothing. I...can't stay with you."

"You can. You're just making your doubts guide your decisions."

She glared at him, "Since when did you become my Therapist?"

"I don't need to be your therapist. I just need to be an expert in your reaction to me when I do this," Booth held the back of her neck and pulled her mouth towards him. As their lips played over one another, Brennan sighed and relaxed into the kiss. Before she was near ready to stop, Booth pulled away.

"See? People who wanna get divorced don't kiss like that."

Trying to hide her frustration, Brennan sighed loudly and stood up, "I have to go to work."

Booth smiled, "I think your colleagues will notice if you roll up into the Jeffersonian wearing a man's t-shirt and the jacket I wore there two days ago."

Brennan looked down at her attire and frowned. She was wearing his leather brown jacket and a grey t shirt of his that said, "Happy 'Kiss the guy in this t shirt' Day!" over her jeans and another one of his Converse sneakers on her feet. She had to go home to change, obviously. Damn, but she was already two hours late. Booth dragging her to the diner after they had woken up late (in each other's arms. She had already scolded herself over that mistake this morning) and insisting on making her eat breakfast (toast, but still) and on top of that refusing to sign the papers had put her hours behind her normal schedule! If she didn't need a husband for one reason, it was this one.

"I'm going home to change, then I'm going to work. And if there is no case related reason for you to come to the Jeffersonian, I ask you not to. I have a lot of work to..."

He kissed her, letting the rest of the sentence fade from her brain. Smiling, he held her chin.

"Alright. Have a good day then."

He really wasn't going to come in? She was not disappointed or anything (she told him not to come, didn't she?) but she had expected him to refuse and tell her he'd come anyway.

"Okay. Um...I'm gonna go," she kissed him on the nose and turned to walk away.

"And..."

She turned back around to look at him.

"...I want my stuff back. Those are the second pair of sneakers you have for me."

"Oh sure. Yes." she walked away, resolving that even if he got the shoes back he wouldn't get back the shirt. It had a date with her fireplace that evening.

..............................................................

Later Booth was staring at the picture he had in his wallet of his wife. Well, back then she was just his partner. She looked so beautiful, and he smiled, thinking of how truly lucky he was to get married to her.

He jumped as the door to his office slammed shut.

"YOU DID WHAT?"

He looked up to see Director Cullen, his head like a big red balloon, hands folded and overall countenance like a bear who had been disturbed halfway through a picnic basket.

"I-I-I-I..." Booth stammered.

"YOU MEAN TO TELL ME YOU MARRIED THE SQUINT? AGENT BOOTH ARE YOU LOOPY? WHAT THE HELL CONVINCED YOU TO DO THAT?"

"How did you find out?" Booth asked, though he already had an idea.

"Your therapist! He seemed to think I should be sensitive to your situation! He explained the divorce! He however failed to explain WHY you married your partner!"

"I love her," Booth blurted, "Director, I don't understand why you are upset."

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? I'M NOT UPSET!" Cullen exploded, "I JUST NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE HELL YOU WERE THINKING!"

Booth could tell he didn't really require an answer, as he ran a hand over his head and paced. Suddenly Cullen turned, looking considerably less vicious.

"I'm sorry about the divorce. I can imagine this is not an easy time. I heard that you wish to keep this all secret and I will make sure to. Carry on," he went out the door.

In the aftermath of the visit, Booth picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"Hello," said Sweets.

"You're dead."

......................................................................

Brennan found it very hard to concentrate. It wasn't just because of the racket Jack and Zach were making with an electric saw that they were taking to a bolted telephone booth which encased their latest victim, but for some reason she couldn't get the previous night out of head. And not the part with her date either.

He gave her a ring. Then he had made love to her. Brennan was sure now that she could tell the difference. She knew what he had been talking about in the diner so long ago now. She didn't know what she would do with this new found information now that she was getting a divorce, but it was good information to have anyway.

And this morning at the diner. He had been so...sweet. She wasn't sure if things would go back to before when the divorce was finalized, but there was something in that that she knew she was going to miss. But it didn't matter. She was not the marrying type. Booth knew that, yet he insisted that they try to stick it out. She knew he was probably being nostalgic, remembering her only as his vacation bride, and not as his partner. Well, he had to come to his senses, dammit! She couldn't stay married to him, she just couldn't.

"Sweetie, you okay?"

Brennan looked over at Angela, who had her face full of concern.

"I'm fine," she told her best friend.

"Oh no. you're thinking about this mystery guy again, aren't you?" Angela surmised, "Are you kidding? I thought Brad was supposed to take all of that away. Man I wanna meet this guy; I feel like ripping him to shreds for making you feel this way."

"That isn't necessary, Angela. I'm fine, I assure you," Brennan put a hand on Angela's shoulder, "I think I should thank you for trying to cheer me up."

"That's what I'm here for, sweetie. You know you can talk about what's bothering you. If it will make you feel better," Angela hugged her, "I'm here for you."

"Thank you," Brennan soaked up some more of the sunshine and roses her best friend always had in adequate supply.

"Hm, there's Booth."

"Booth?" Brennan let go of Angela and spun out of her arms so fast, Angela had to steady herself, "Where?"

"Hey, Bones. Ange, you okay?" Booth looked concerned at Angela who was gripping the table.

"I'm okay," Angela assured.

"Bones, we need to go talk to the spouse of the girl we found in the ravine. The police caught him about to board a plane to Equador, and they handed him over to us. Come on."

He was about to move toward the exit, when she said, "Do you really need me to come with you?"

He looked back at her, "Would I really come all the way over here if I didn't need you, Bones?"

She considered, and he sounded right, but that didn't make it feel less like a ploy to get her out of the lab, "Alright."

"Good. Let's go," he came back to help her out of her lab coat, and took her by the small of her back to lead her out.

..........................................................

"That was almost useless", Brennan declared.

"At least we can rule him out as the killer. Him showing up to the interview with his _actual _wife and all."

"How could we make this big a mistake?" she asked him, "Both women had the same name. Both were married around the same time, but that shouldn't have caused us to make such a large error in our research."

"I don't know how it happened, Bones, but it means we still have no idea who that woman on your table is."

They were driving back to the Jeffersonian, or so Brennan thought, until she realized that the route seemed to be going closer to her house.

"Booth," she said as he turned into her apartment complex, "Why are we at my house?"

"Oh. Uh," he tried his best to look innocent, "Didn't you say you forgot a file here?"

"I said no such thing! And don't think I don't realize you're planning something." she pointed at his innocent boy face.

"You sure? Well," he shrugged, "maybe we should go check your apartment in case."

She caught on to what he was doing, "Booth! Is this a plot to get me to have sex with you in the middle of the day?"

His eyebrows went up diabolically, "Is it working?"

......................................................

The door swung open with the weight of Brennan leaning on it. They kissed as if they hadn't seen each other in years, and Booth was already working on the buttons on the front of Brennan's blouse. She gasped and pushed him a little, looking into his eyes.

"This is the last time, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." Booth leaned in and kissed her hungrily again.

"Booth!" she pushed him away again, "I'm serious! You may not take our imminent divorce seriously, but that does not detract from the fact that by this time next week, we will not be married."

He sighed, indicating with his thumb and forefinger, "The mood is this close to being killed, Bones. Let's not discuss this now."

"Okay," she breathed, kissing him once more as he lifted her and headed for her room.

..............................................

She opened her eyes and sat up in the bed.

Stifling a yawn, Brennan stretched, wondering how she felt so luxurious and lazy. She wasn't sure where she was, what time of day it was, what city she was in or even what she was supposed to be doing now.

But that all ended when she felt somebody's leg move along the length of hers and heard that person's sleepy sigh.

She was home; it was four o'clock (three hours since she had left work); she was in Washington DC; and she was supposed to be _at work_, squinting at bones. Not here, in bed with her so-to-be ex-husband!

She looked over her shoulder at Booth. He had fallen asleep too, and he was snuggling into her pillow like it was four in the morning, not afternoon.

"BOOTH!"

"Huh?" he woke with a start and sat up with her. She watched him get his bearings, the leaned away when he made to kiss her.

"What?" he asked.

"You lured me here under false pretenses," she glared at him, her arms folded over the sheet that was covering her.

"I lured you to your own house, Bones? Sorry, but we both know that wouldn't hold up in court," he gave her no time to shy away, as he swooped in and kissed her mouth sweetly.

"But..." she tried to keep angry, "It's four o'clock! I left work at one! They could all be wondering where I am now, and I'm here in bed with you!" she pushed him.

He laughed, "I'm here in bed with you too. You wanna go back to work, or do you wanna stay here and..." he wiggled his eyebrows to finish the sentence.

She frowned, "No! I need to go back to work. We have a major dilemma; that woman on the table hasn't been properly identified and that means we are nowhere in the case! Why aren't you more concerned about this?" she flew out of bed, grabbed her clothes and tried to sort them out.

"I really like what you've done with your ring."

She turned to look at him, "What?"

"On the chain around your neck? I know you don't want to wear it, because it would raise suspicion, but I like that you still have it on."

Brennan fingered the tiny chain around her neck that had lain under the chunky necklace she had worn to work. Then she turned to her bathroom.

When she came out of the bathroom, dressed and remade, she looked at her husband, who was putting on his jacket.

"I have the papers," she told him, reaching out for his tie and knotting it for him, "Would you like to sign them now?"

He laughed, "Not really." When she finished with his tie, he grabbed her and gave her a kiss, "I love you."

"I'm divorcing you!" she tried to push him away, but then he kissed her neck, "Booth, you need to be rational! And practice self-restraint!"

"I am being rational. I love you," he kissed her neck again, "And I wanna spend the rest of my life with you. So...I refuse to sign your damn papers."

"Uh-huh...I mean," Brennan's brain was turning to mush (which didn't happen often) as he moved his mouth to her ear, "Booth, can't you see how...this can't remain permanent?"

"No," he held her tight and kissed her.

All the way back to the Jeffersonian, her mind was a blur.

.....................................................................

She was back home. It was late. She had tons of work to do. But the same blurry feeling was still persistent after all those hours.

She was brushing her hair in the bathroom mirror, giving herself a good long look. She had to get this over with. She was getting in too deep. For some reason, she couldn't tear herself away from Booth. She needed to, because they needed to get divorced. But he was being so difficult, buying her a ring, being as sweet and as sexy as he had been on vacation, permanently lodging himself in her brain, _making love to her_... he was hard to get rid of, that was for sure.

Her mind went to their conversation that morning over breakfast. _You didn't sign it. If you aren't afraid to sign it, do it now._

But she had refused, citing that she was waiting for him to sign.

But really, what was she waiting for? She wasn't afraid, was she? No, she wasn't! She was the one being rational, the one who was ultimately right, and Booth was only being irrational and short-sighted. She wasn't afraid, she thought as she put down the brush, and she was going to prove it.

Going to her bag, she extracted the papers, and grabbed a pen. She looked at the first space, put her pen on it and flashed off her signature on it. Then the rest, and then she read it over to make sure she had done everything properly.

When she was satisfied, she decided to give it to Booth tonight.

But she couldn't go like this. Looking down at the large t shirt (Booth's), a pair of flannel shorts and sneakers (Booth's) that she had on, she decided to change er clothes.

She wondered if her new hip huggers would look too dressy.

...................................................

A knock on the door made Booth jump, sloshing cereal and milk all over the knee of his jeans. Cursing slightly, he got out of the couch changed the channel, (he was watching X-Files. He liked the FBI element, bit nobody needed to know he watched sci-fi) and went to the door. Opening the door, he wasn't surprised when his wife stormed in like an angry tornado, but he was pleasantly surprised at what she had on. Her hair was done in big barrel curls, the blue spaghetti strap blouse she had on was whisper thin and made her skin look even more touchable. The black jeans she had on seemed to be painted onto her body and to top it off, she had on impossibly high, almost too sexy heels. Booth let his eyes roam over her, taking it all in.

"Honey, you look great. You going somewhere?" he asked.

She gave him a look that reminded him of a snake he met once in the desert.

"I want you to sign the divorce papers now," she told him. Booth chuckled.

"Sorry. I told you Bones I'm not gonna sign until you do."

"That has already been taken care of," she thrust the papers at him, "Look if you don't believe me."

Booth unfolded the papers and sure enough there was her signature in all the indicated spaces and the blank places waiting for his signature.

Booth looked up at his wife, at her chin defiantly in the air, her arms folded and her eyes struggling to keep contact with his. She couldn't be serious. Why was she doing this? He knew she loved him. He also knew she had her reservations about commitment. But he had shown her how much he loved her and he had told her he would never leave her.

"What is this about?" he asked.

"We are stalling in our divorce proceedings. So I have decided to push forward. It is only left for you to sign we will be divorced," she told him, he attitude similar to when she was explaining a test in the lab. But he wasn't buying the nonchalant act.

"Bones," he started, "you only got these papers two days ago. We're not stalling in any sense of the word. Come on, tell me why you're doing this now. "

"I have been 'doing it' since we got back from vacation, Booth! I thought you would understand once we came back to DC that our marriage would not work."

"It's working all right to me!" he told her.

"Oh and what kind of marriage is this, Booth? We don't live together, I don't take care of you, we haven't discussed finances..."

"You can move in anytime you want, or I can move in with you, you are very welcome to take care of me in _any_ way you like and we can discuss finances right now. Problem solved!"

"Problem _not_ solved," she shook her finger at him.

"Tell me the problem and I'll fix it, Bones," he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck, "Anything you wanna fix, I'll fix."

for the first time since they got married, the first time since she'd known her really, she pushed him away.

"Just sign the papers, Booth." she turned away and let herself out.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Totally not mine. You can tell tfrom the fact that BB is MARRIED ALREADY.

Second to last chappie. Enjoy.

* * *

Booth stared at the paper the next morning.

He didn't conciously acknowledge it, but in the back of his mind, he had formulated plans for the papers he had in his hand. He ran over the more appealing ones in his head.

**One: Burn them and tell her it was an accident.**

That would never work, he knew. She would just go back to her lawyer and get another set. But, it would buy him more time to convince her that their marriage would work. The problem was, short of staging an elaborate and romantic plot, which he knew she wouldn't fully appreciate anyway, he had run out of ideas. He carried her to breakfast, told her how much he loved her, found time for her no matter how much it cost him his job, gave her her space. All the things she would appreciate him doing. She had no idea how many times he wanted to pull the romantic card. The hot-air balloon rental place switch board operator was tired of him calling her and then saying, "Never mind." He could have sent her a billion flowers. He could have swept her off her feet and walk off into the sunset...

She was lucky he was so considerate.

Bones didn't need cliche. She needed someone who would care, who would protect her when she needed it, back off when she needed it, listen, allow her to cry, love her for who she was.

And he had been doing that.

What else was left?

**Two: Tear it up. Go to her house and make passionate love to her, pouring out his soul physically, and verbally if it came to it, to convincing her of how much they belonged together.**

Done to death all throughout their marriage. It was still appealing, though. If he could just show her how much he loved her...

But one thing he learned over their marriage was no matter how great the sex was, Bones would take it at face value. It never occurred to her that the reason it was so good was because he was pouring all the love he had for her into it. Feeling like a desperate housewife, he moved on to option three.

**Three: Shred it and feed it to Sweets.**

That had been when he was at the height of his anger with the psychologist. He was still angry, but not so angry that he would stuff paper down the kid's throat. It wasn't his fault that Bones was leaving him. He was even actually trying to help him keep her. So was Caroline. And even Director Cullen. He bet that everyone they knew would be on his side. If the whole world could see it, why couldn't she?

Well, actually he thought she could. But she dismissed it, because she was too busy proving her theory that their marriage wouldn't work. He chuckled sadly. He was in love with a mad scientist. If nobody needed a wake up call, his wife sure did.

There was always the next option.

**Four: Sign the papers, and hope that it would wake her up to the fact that she couldn't go back to being just partners, that they were way beyond that and that neither one of them wanted that anymore anyway.**

It was a really frightening option. There was the chance that she actually did believe deep down that they wouldn't work out. But she didn't. He knew she didn't deep down. He knew it might come back to bite him in the ass, but it seemed like the only choice at the moment.

He took up the pen and flashed off his signature next to hers.

"Coming!" Brennan called as the person at her door knocked on her door again. She tripped over the large book that she had been reading as it fell out of her hands on the way to the door. Looking through the peephole she saw her husband.

Hopefully ex-husband by now.

Opening the door, she ignored any formality, "Have you signed the papers?"

"That's my shirt," he pointed at the blue shirt she had on, emblazoned with the words 'I Can't Remember my Vacation' and a beer bottle on it.

She looked over the shirt. It had ended up in her suitcase and she had found it when she was unpacking. She had intended to return it, along with the sneakers, but they were so _comfy_. She added them to the list of "Things Booth Won't Get Back in the Divorce Settlement" which for some reason included the blue and black socks, a suspense novel and the pen he did crossword puzzles with on vacation.

"So?"

"I want it back!"

"You didn't even miss it!"

"You know it's really getting disturbing that you're stealing my stuff. If we were still married it wouldn't be that bad."

"Does that mean you signed the papers?"

She might as well ignore the look of hurt in his eyes as well, "Yes, Bones. You win. Here are your damn papers."

He put them in her hands. As she put her fist around them, she felt like something squeezed her heart. She shouldn't! This was the right thing to do. She and Booth would eventually make each other miserable; they would be two old people sitting in matching rocking chairs and waiting for the other die first.

_But does that mean you expected to be married to Booth for the rest of your life? _a little voiced in her head sounded.

"Stop stealing my stuff," Booth warned as he turned away from her door.

"Wait."

He turned and looked at her, suddenly looking a decade older.

"Um..." she struggled to voice her thoughts, "I...I really didn't have a bad marriage Booth. You'll make somebody a good husband some day."

He looked at her, and she could almost hear his internal voice say sarcastically, _Oh yeah??? Gee, and I was here trying to make you hate me._

"Just stop stealing my stuff, okay?" he said and turned away.

Brennan sighed. She was now an ex-wife.

She was now Booth's ex-wife.

This was what she wanted. Actually, this was what she and Booth needed.

So why did she suddenly feel hollow?

.................................................

So, he was now an ex-husband

He was Bones' ex-husband.

He was also still in love with her.

How screwed was he?

He got into the SUV and pulled out from the parking space. He guessed he should go home, but he didn't feel up to going to his house. Maybe he'd go get a sundae at the ice cream shop down the road from Bones' house. He felt the need to drown his sorrow in some cookie dough ice cream smothered in fudge and nuts dribbled on top and a cherry. Then he'd chase it with a couple of beers.

As he drove towards the ice cream place, he thought about the last two months. Had he been trying to convince himself that Bones felt just the same as he did? He didn't think so. She had loved him. She probably still did. She was denying herself what she really wanted. Why? She knew he would never leave her.

Well, he sighed, it was all over.

The blaring of a car horn had him turning around and all he saw before the SUV toppled over was a red car speeding towards him.

..................................................

"You okay?"

Brennan looked up at Angela who had come over a little after Booth left. After commenting on Brennan's state of dress, she then attacked the sneakers. Now they were laying back,

Brennan finally bent to the fashion commentary and changed into a black tank top and a pair of blue and white plaid shorts that Angela didn't have to know once belonged to Brennan's ex-husband.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"You look like you wanna cry. It isn't about Mystery Guy is it?"

"No, Angela." Brennan lied, "I do not want to cry. I'm perfectly fine."

"Good. Because you know if something's wrong, you can tell me."

Brennan thought of the divorce papers in her bag that she was going to give to her lawyer the next day. She guessed that now that it was over, she could tell Angela.

"Okay. I have something to tell you."

"I knew it! What's up?"

"It's about..."

The telephone cut her off.

"Hang on," Brennan got up, ignoring Angela's big pout, and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Yes. May I speak to Dr. Temperance Brennan?"

"This is she."

"Dr. Brennan, I'm from the Victoria Grace hospital. Your partner Seeley Booth was just admitted after an accident..."

She probably couldn't explain it scientifically but she could feel the life force drain from her as she listened to the woman on the phone. She sat down on the handle of the chair.

"Is he okay?" she asked.

"Yes. He was unconscious..."

"Unconscious!" she got back up, "I'm coming down there!"

"Wait, Doctor, I said..."

"I don't care! I'm his wife, I'm coming down there to see him!"

She slammed down the phone, looked at (a very confused) Angela and said, "Come on. We're going to the hospital."

"Who was that about, and why do you say you're his..."

"Hurry up!" Brennan was at the door putting on her (Booth's) sneakers and grabbing her jacket. She opened the door and stormed out, leaving Angela to lock it after herself.

...........................................

"Can you talk to me please?"

Brennan looked back at Angela as she walked into the hospital.

"Booth was in an accident," she said simply. The look on Angela's face was one of shocked concern.

"What?! Oh my gosh! Do you know his condition?"

"He's fine," said the lady behind the front desk, "I take it you're the distraught wife."

"I just want to see him. And we just got divorced."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute, I'm not following," Angela said, "You're not married to Booth!"

"You're not?" the lady asked Brennan.

"Yes we were, but we just got divorced. Technically we're still married. He gave me the papers just before...the accident."

"WHAT!"

Brennan turned to Angela, who had made the outburst.

"Why was I not privy to this information?! And what the hell do you mean you divorced him? Are you nutso? When did this happen? _How _did this happen? Who else knows? Am I the last to know?"

"No you're not. Only a handful of people know," Brennan counted off, "Dr. Sweets, Caroline Julian, Director Cullen, our lawyers, Zach..."

"_ZACH_!" Angela screamed, "Bren, you told Zach!"

"He deduced it on his own."

"If you'd like to see your husband, or whatever you call him, he's in room 34."

"Thank you," Brennan took off down the hallway, Angela close behind.

"But honey, what happened? Why did you get divorced?"

"Only because we realised that it was alright to keep up an impulsive marriage on vacation, but it was not going to work once we were back home."

"Huh?"

"I'll explain later," they got to the room, and Brennan opened the door.

Booth was in bed. He had one arm in a cast, his chest in bandages and bruises all over. He looked at them and smiled.

"Hey guys," he said, "They called you, huh?"

"Booth!" Brennan went over to him and kissed him long and hard. He resisted for a millisecond before giving in. She pulled away and wiped a stray tear away, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"You two really are married?" Angela asked, like she hadn't believe Brennan before.

"Wait. What are you sorry for?" Booth asked his wife.

"If you hadn't come over to give me those papers, you would...I know it sounds irrational, but..."

"Bones, the other car went out of control. The girl, she's in surgery, but I bet she'll be fine. It had nothing to do with you."

"But..."

"Wait. Those are my shorts! And my sneakers! Bones, this whole divorce has turned you klepto. You cannot keep stealing my stuff to compensate me not being there."

"That is not why I steal your stuff- why I have your stuff, correction. It is very comfortable."

"Then get your own."

"Um, 'scuse me."

Booth and Brennan looked at Angela.

"Is someone gonna enlighten me? When the hell did you get married, why wasn't I invited, and why on God's green Earth did you get divorced?"

"We got married on vacation," Booth told her, "It was kind of on impulse, so there was no time to call home."

"And I told you, we got divorced because we realised that our marriage would not work when we came back," said Brennan, her hand now absentmindedly stroking her ex-husband's hair, "Or at least that is what I wanted to be the basis of our divorce. But..."

She looked down, avoiding Booth's eyes.

"But what?" he asked her, turning her face around by holding on to her chin, "What is it Bones?"

"The...the first thing I said when they told me you had been in an accident was that...I was your wife. And I didn't ever believe it more than I did in that moment."

"Well, I bet you were shocked."

"Oh my goodness, this is so cool," said Angela.

"I was. Booth, is it too late for us to call off the divorce? I love you and I'm sorry for doubting that our marriage could survive outside of a honeymoon setting, that it wouldn't fall apart as soon as we put it to the test in the real world. I've been ignoring the fact that despite my insistence about getting a divorce the marriage was working...in a strange roundabout way that only we can achieve."

Booth chuckled, "We really are unique."

"So could we try again? Can you forgive me for being so thick-headed and short sighted about our marriage? Please?" the last word was hinged on a sob.

"Aw come on Bones, don't cry," he held her close with his good hand, "What are you talking about? Of course I forgive you. And as for the divorce, I only gave in because it was what you wanted. So now that you wanna stay married, I couldn't be any happier because that's what I want too."

"Oh you guys!" Angela ran over to them and hugged them both, "I'm so happy! I'm still angry that you didn't tell me and you let_ Zach_ find out before me, but still I'M SO HAPPY!"

They looked up at the movement by the door and saw Cam, Hodgins, Zach, Rebecca and Parker staring at them.

"GUYS! THEY'RE _MARRIED_!"Angela screamed.

Zach beamed, "I knew."

"WHAT?" Rebecca and Cam said at the same time.

"You're kidding." Jack stared.

"We got...we got married on vacation," Brennan tried to say, even as Angela squeezed the air out of her.

"Yeah! Go Dad!" Parker declared. Everybody laughed.

"Congrats, Seeley," Rebecca came over and gave him a peck on the cheek. After a beat, she hugged Brennan too.

"Finally!" Cam hugged them both.

"'Bout time, dude," Jack shook Booth's hand.

"So you know what this calls for, right?" Angela looked at them in a conspiratorial fashion.

"What?" Booth and Brennan asked.

"A party!"

Booth and Bones looked at each other.

"Well, it would be good, you know, to announce it to everybody," Angela shrugged, "I can plan it, if you want."

Booth shrugged, "What do you think, Bones?"

She nodded, "That would be a good idea. Better than mine at least. I was going to suggest we send out an email outlining our marital status."

Everyone in the room except Bones laughed.

"We're having a party?!" Parker exclaimed.

* * *

Review, please


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